The virtuoso musician, whose real name is Annie Clark, follows her collaboration with Talking Heads alum David Byrne with her best album yet

There are several good reasons that Annie Clark, who tours and records under the name St. Vincent, has such a distinctive musical style and sound.

“I tend to write a lot of my guitar parts, not on guitar, but on computer,” Clark told me in 2012.

Moreover, prior to studying at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, she learned six-string fundamentals from her uncle, Tuck & Patti’s Tuck Andress. His mastery of the acoustic guitar has long stunned audiences and other musicians alike.

“He’s one of the best guitar players that will walk the earth,” said Clark, who rarely uses a pick when she plays.

And what about Berklee?

“I think the most valuable thing I got out of that school is simply being exposed to more music that I didn’t know,” she replied. “Specifically, composers like Stravinsky and Debussy, more modern classical music that I think probably has worked my way into my subconscious pretty deeply. In a lot of ways, I’m a more intuitive musician. I can be as cerebral as the next person, but I don’t analyze chord charts and diagram harmony for fun! It’s either in my ears or not.

"A lot of music I love has no real relevance to what I do. I like old Country and Western, I love Lil Wayne. My ears are not discriminating, in terms of genre. I just love music."

Clark's most recent San Diego concert was at Humphreys in 2012, where she performed with former head Talking Head David Byrne following their joint album.

"David and I were writing things mostly on the computer, sending files back and forth, tweaking each others ideas and being really collaborative," she said. "In that way it was nice not to have a lot of guitar parts, because we were dealing with MIDi files and thinking about it as a horn (oriented) record.

"We had many ways, of working together. Sometimes, he'd send me music and I'd add a melody, or he would add a melody. Sometimes we'd send more complete ideas. It was all over the place. There were so many instances where he would send me back a melody, or I'd send him an idea, and he'd re-work, or I did. And then I'd go: 'Oh my god, it's a song now,' and it's great! The whole point is to do something you'd never do on your own, and couldn't have done on your own."

In addition to stretching her approach to music, touring with Byrne yielded some unexpected fringe benefits for Clark.

"I never thought I would sit and have a heart-to-heart talk with Paul Simon about music," she said. "But he's a friend of David's and I met him, and we had a good chat. Thirty minutes before the show, I'm having a drink and chatting with Paul Simon!"

St. Vincent

St. Vincent performs here Wednesday with her band at House of Blues. The show is in support of her often stunning new album, the self-titled “St. Vincent.” It’s alternately joyous and darkly mysterious, carefully constructed and chaotic, dense and airy, inviting and jarring.

Her singing and oh-so-sly lyrics are equally accomplished. And when Clark, 31, cuts loose on guitar — as on the latter-day Beatles-tinged “Birth in Reverse” — look out!